MycoMakeOver

MycoMakeOver. PS1 Gallery, Iowa City, Iowa, USA, 2014 An interactive urban revitalization project that considers how the practices of art and food production might be drawn together in order to plug some of the microflows of capital distribution – allowing for a rising-up of human essence that is based on creating networks of survival whereby the fulfillment of our most basic needs opens-up possibilities for new value systems that are not driven by profit and yield.

How does it work? MycoMakeOver is a DIY mushrooming kit full of all the essentials for growing edible mushrooms using the log culture method. The handmade backpack was constructed from a reused styrofoam container, wood, recycled plastic bottles, bamboo, canvas and miscellaneous fasteners and such. The kit contains two handsaws, hand drill, mallet, stove, pot (for water), pot (for soy wax), lighter, soy wax, brush, inoculated mushroom plugs, percolator, coffee, tea, axe, fuel, and a how-to manual. It is free to use and circulate among those who wish to enact its potential. The gallery provides as a resting spot for when the kit was not in use as well as a place to restock plugs and fuel when supplies run low.

The kit is constructed from a recycled foam container, plywood and fasteners. Recycled plastic caps and bottles are utilized to store supplies such as coffee, tea, soy wax and mushroom plugs while also providing the means for closing and locking the lid (see illustration – will be available soon).

In addition to the the tools and supplies; a repurposed rifle case was refashioned into a carrier for two handsaws (above – left); a manual overviewing the conceptual framework for the project and detailing the process to cultivate shiitake mushrooms by way of the log method – pdf version of manual,use 2-sided printing and staple to bind.